How To Create An Effective Facebook Page For Your Business

Facebook, if used correctly, can be one of the most effective marketing and advertising tool that your business can use. If you think about it, it makes sense. How many businesses send sales literature to countries like Sweden and why? The answer is lots because there are 8 million people in Sweden. Yet many of these same businesses are not on Facebook and there are currently over One Billion active monthly users ( source: thenextweb.com/)

This is why online marketing as a whole needs to be part of your sales kit regardless of whether you are a traditional bricks and mortar business, a totally online business or somewhere between the two, it is madness to ignore Facebook and other social media. In fact a business Facebook page can increase your brand’s visibility and make you more marketable.

Step one is to figure out is what is the main aim of your business Facebook page. This is a vital step because it will guide you in the content and strategy that you use on that page. Many business, large and small often assume that once they have a page with random updates and a few company photos then it is job done. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is essential that you update relevant and useful information with related pictures that explain your strategy and serve the marketing purpose of the Facebook page you have set up. So for instance, let’s say that the purpose of the page is to market the brand. Just what does this mean? It means more people will know about you and what you do. This is vital for your long-term success. In my own company, we are a publishing company, we have a page on Facebook that uses my name. So you can see all of our books are www.graham-lawler.com. When you visit the site you can see we have a number of brands within Graham Lawler Media and Publishing, namely Studymates, Aber and Mr Educator. The fact is, amazon pay click throughs for Graham Lawler, my own name is the brand. This is why it makes sense to have the company named after me and the Facebook page is a personal page. There are limits to what we do with the Facebook page. We have a Twitter account that also links through to the Facebook page and we consistently look to give positive messages about education. This is because my own life was enhanced by benefiting from great education and consequently we believe that education is vital for a successful life. This is our philosophy and it is reflected in all that we do, including Facebook and Twitter. I genuinely do update these myself. I could get someone else to do it but it does not take long and it keeps us congruent with our values. When I am broadcasting in the UK I also aim to use these values as a guide to the messages I put out, ( you can hear me broadcasting as a guest on the BBC on BBC Swindon, BBC Wilts, BBC Three Counties radio, BBC London, BBC Newcastle and BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, nationally on LBC and on the internet oldies station Solidgoldgem.am (www.solidgoldgem.am)).

The next step is to set yourself apart from the competition. It is possible to use custom tabs on Facebook to give your audience and potential customers more information about your brand and your products. Most companies use the general information tabs to explain who and what the business stands for. But if you offer more than what is usually available about your products and services, then this may result in keeping people coming for more. It is extremely important to explain clearly what your business is about and what your brand stands for so that people know exactly who you are.

It is important that you get many likes so that your corporate Facebook page is visible. This is something that we have not been as good as we need to be at, and we need to improve it. There are a number of ways in which you can get many likes on your page. Do consider asking your friends to like your page. You can also consider leaving comments on pages that have many fans and are relevant to your business. Comment as much as it is possible to do so and also provide a link to your Facebook page. You can buy Facebook fans, but we don’t recommend that, or create a buzz around your page by having a giveaway or contest with prizes.

To use your business Facebook page effectively, it is important that you post often, preferably daily. You should post information that is useful to your readers as well as reinforces your core marketing strategy for the page. People often to respond to things that add value to their lives. If you just advertise and market your brand without providing any useful information for your readers, you may just irritate people. Try offering information, tips and suggestions that your readers can use. Your Facebook page should be supportive of your business brand and it should be geared to making the overall brand more marketable and visible. All the information that you offer should reinforce your brand.

It is important to also appear personable and approachable to your readers even if you are a large business. That is why I personally take on the Graham Lawler page. We do have a Studymates page but the Graham Lawler page, which has some personal comments on it as well as business, gets the most response. Try posting pictures of official functions, post blog links to your company blog and post details of new products or contest or an event so that your readers feel like valued clients and they feel like they are a part of your family. This creates loyalty and loyalty generates even more business. This is why social media is important, it builds relationships.

Interact with your readers by commenting on wall posts and liking and responding to comments that they make on your page. This kind of interaction reinforces your relationship with existing clients and attracts potential customers. It is also a way for you to get feedback on your business. You should also measure the amount of interaction that you are having with your readers and see if there are responses and comments on your wall posts and other content that you upload. This will help you change what you need to so that you make your Facebook business page more effective. We know we haven’t got the whole social media policy right at Graham Lawler Media and Publishing (GLMP Ltd) yet, but we also know that when amazon pay for a click through, that is a powerful brand and we mean to make the most use of it. So please do look us up on social media and get in touch, or at least look us up at www.graham-lawler.com, you never know you might even buy a book.

Hi Graham this is a very interesting post. Although I have to admit I am not using Face Book to its full potential at the moment. It has been a personal page for a number of years and I am afraid of mixing my personal and business friends.

I do not want my personal friends knowing all about my business and likewise I do not want new business friends knowing my social history.